Baptiste (TV series)

Baptiste is a spin-off series from the drama The Missing using one of the central characters, Julien Baptiste, played by Tchéky Karyo. The series is produced by Two Brothers Pictures and distributed worldwide by their parent company All3Media.[1] It was broadcast on BBC One starting in February 2019 and is written by Jack and Harry Williams, who also wrote The Missing. In the United States, it was broadcast on PBS on their series Masterpiece beginning on April 12, 2020.[2]

Baptiste
Genre
Created by
  • Harry Williams
  • Jack Williams
Written by
  • Harry Williams
  • Jack Williams
Directed byBörkur Sigþórsson
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producer(s)Christopher Aird
Tommy Bulfin
Harry Williams
Jack Williams
Producer(s)John Griffin
Production location(s)Netherlands Belgium
Production company(s)Two Brothers Pictures
DistributorAll3Media
Release
Original networkBBC One
Picture format2:1 1080i
Audio formatStereo
Original release17 February 2019 (2019-02-17) –
present
Chronology
Related showsThe Missing
External links
Website
Production website

Synopsis

The show uses one of the central characters from the TV series, The Missing, that of Julien Baptiste played by Tchéky Karyo. Baptiste's wife and daughter are played by the same actors from The Missing, otherwise all other characters and actors starring in the programme are new to this storyline.[3]

After having an operation on his brain tumour, Julien Baptiste claims he is not the man he once was. His old boss persuades him to help the Dutch Police look for a missing sex worker in Amsterdam. While looking, he meets Edward (Tom Hollander), the uncle of the missing girl. All is not as it seems with Edward, and the show also introduces Kim Vogel (Talisia Garcia), who has a criminal history and Constantin, (Alec Secăreanu), a Romanian national who is seen murdering and dismembering a victim at the start of the programme.[4][5]

Cast

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions)
1"Shell"Börkur SigþórssonHarry Williams & Jack Williams17 February 2019 (2019-02-17)9.17
While Julien Baptiste is in Amsterdam with his family, an old friend, Martha, from the Dutch police, asks him to search for a missing sex worker, Natalie Rose. He meets Edward, who claims to be Natalie's uncle, and the two men delve into the criminal underworld of Amsterdam's red light district.
2"Measure of a Man"Börkur SigþórssonHarry Williams & Jack Williams24 February 2019 (2019-02-24)7.98
With help from Kim Vogel, Julien finds Natalie, who reveals that Edward is not her uncle, but a client. Julien goes to Edward's address in Antwerp and finds a severed head hidden in the house.
3"For Blood"Börkur SigþórssonHarry Williams & Jack Williams3 March 2019 (2019-03-03)7.86
Julien confronts Edward, who tells him that the head is that of his father, who has been murdered by Romanian gangsters belonging to the Brigada Serbilu, after Edward helped Natalie to steal some money that they were laundering. Julien sends his own family into hiding, while he continues to work on the case with help from Niels, a young Dutch detective, who is Martha's son.
4"Vertrouwen"Jan MatthysHarry Williams & Jack Williams10 March 2019 (2019-03-10)7.55
Kim Vogel is murdered. Julien goes in pursuit of the stolen money while Genevieve, a British detective, coerces Edward to meet Constantin, the gangsters' spokesman. When the money is discovered, Edward gives Julien the slip and returns to the UK. Martha confesses to Julien that Niels is his natural son.
5"Lucy"Jan MatthysKelly Jones17 March 2019 (2019-03-17)7.36
Having tracked Edward down, Julien and Genevieve conceive an audacious plan to turn Constantin and bring down the Brigada. Julien begins negotiations with Constantin, but the Brigada murder Constantin in Amsterdam for having misappropriated their money. They track down Edward's ex-wife and murder her and her partner; Edward manages to turn the tables on the assassin, but Julien realises that someone in the Dutch police has betrayed them.
6"Into the Sand"Jan MatthysHarry Williams & Jack Williams24 March 2019 (2019-03-24)7.18
Edward finds evidence against the Brigada among Kim's belongings. Niels is revealed to have been secretly working for the Brigada, and goes on the run. When Julien, Genevieve and the police catch up with him, he takes Martha hostage and kills her.[6]

Production

The BBC announced in April 2018, that a spin-off from its successful The Missing series would go into production and was set to be broadcast in 2019.[7][8]

Most of the action is set in Amsterdam in the Netherlands; although some exterior scenes were shot there, some were actually filmed in Antwerp and Ghent in Belgium.[9] Additionally, a handful of scenes were shot in Deal, Kingsdown, Ramsgate and Sandwich, all in Kent, England.[10]

The series is in six episodes, all being broadcast on a Sunday evening.[11]

Reception

Carol Midgley writing in The Times, gave the first episode three stars out of five and declared the first 45 minutes to be "underwhelming", though the last 15 minutes picked up and left her "semi-intrigued".[12] The Guardian described the programme as a "slowburning spin-off" and "the opener draws you into a darkly compelling plot".[13]

The Daily Telegraph described the series as "worth sticking with" and gave it three stars out of five.[4]

gollark: No.
gollark: What hello world program?
gollark: ... probably?
gollark: You add it to the dependencies in your cargo.toml.
gollark: You have to download all the header files and then the actual shared library, or maybe the C code, then muck around with a bunch of annoying configs to link it in or whatever.

References
  1. "BBC - Tom Hollander joins new BBC One drama Baptiste - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  2. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/baptiste. Retrieved 10 May 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "When does Baptiste start on BBC1? What's The Missing spin-off about and who's in the cast?". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  4. Rees, Jasper (17 February 2019). "Baptiste, episode one review: Like The Missing but with the air of a graphic novel". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  5. Perkins, Eleanor (27 August 2018). "Village hosts more filming". Kent Online. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  6. Graeme Virtue (25 March 2019). "Baptiste finale: was the bloody, moody Missing spinoff worth your time?". The Guardian.
  7. James, Sarah (1 April 2018). "The Missing to get new spin-off Baptiste starring Tcheky Karyo". Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  8. Allen, Ben (3 April 2018). "The Missing gets new spin-off Baptiste starring Tchéky Karyo". Radio Times. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  9. Harrison, Ellie (17 February 2019). "Where was Baptiste filmed?". Radio Times. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  10. Kent Film Office. "Baptiste (2019) Article".
  11. Duke, Simon (17 February 2019). "How many episodes of Baptiste are there? New drama starts on BBC1". North East Chronicle. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  12. Midgley, Carol (18 February 2019). "This time, Baptiste, it's the tension that's missing". The Times (72773). Times2. p. 10. ISSN 0140-0460.CS1 maint: location (link)
  13. Virtue, Graeme; Catterall, Ali; Bradley, Mike; Jones, Ellen E.; Howlett, Paul (17 February 2019). "Sunday's best TV: Top Gear; Baptiste; Traitors; Time Travelling Bong". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
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